Disclaimer: Truthfully, I find disclaimers useless. If I truly owned Naruto I assure you I would not be sitting here typing while I could be reading fan mail. Plus, if I was the one who made Naruto, would this really be a Fanfiction? Or would it be real considering I was the creator of Naruto? Either way, it is obvious that if I owned Naruto…I would not be here.
Summary: The Cliché Time travel Fic, with some of my own originality mixed in. Sasuke realizes too late that things could have gone differently. As a final effort to set fate on its correct course he sends Naruto into the past.
Rating: T, may go any way depending on my mood…
Updated: Whenever I feel like writing (Which is a fair amount of the time…)
Reviews are worth the reviewers weight in gold.
*Story Start*
Listless eyes bored into Naruto as he stumbled along the destroyed roads of Konoha. Corpses littered the ground. Unshed tears glistened in his cerulean eyes , threatening to fall at any moment.
Everybody was dead. Sakura, Blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and from a having been stabbed just above her heart. Kakashi, lying next to her, a gaping hole in his stomach that could only be the work of the Chidori. Stupid sensei, killed by his own technique. Sai…looked peaceful. The only sign that he was dead, not sleeping was the blue tint on his unsmiling lips and the purpling bruises that wrapped around his neck. Dead snakes laid beside him in a puddle of ink.
Team eight, dead. Team ten, dead. Tsunade, the ramen shop workers, Iruka…all of them, gone. Soon Naruto reached the place that he had been looking for. The place where it all started. That balcony where team seven had first formed. Where they had shared (or confused each other into thinking they had shared) their goals, ambitions, and dreams. The place where their doom began.
As he sat Naruto closed his eyes to block the moisture that was building behind his eyelids. A few tears still escaped. As he cried Naruto contemplated his life up till now. The villagers hating him, then slowly beginning to accept him. His arguments with Sasuke. His irrational crush on Sakura. Climbing trees with Sasuke. Kakashi's bell test. Training with Sasuke. Missions with Sasuke. Sasuke leaving. Chasing after Sasuke. Sasuke's attack on Konoha.
"Sasuke"
Said man walked behind Naruto, bloodstained Katana in hand.
"Naruto" blue eyes met crimson. Naruto didn't stand. He had no intention of fighting the only important person left in his life, even if he knew that Sasuke would be the death of him. Sasuke realized that and his red eyes hardened. Then Sasuke lifted his sword with a slightly trembling hand. He swung, but stopped the Katana inches from Naruto's neck. He held it there for an endless moment, then his fingers unclenched and the Katana dropped to the ground. Naruto sent Sasuke a questioning look as he sat down next to him.
"Why not?" he asked "Why not kill me too, you'd be doing me a favor if you ended it here, or do you take some sick pleasure from my suffering?"
"I never wanted to kill you, I never planned to. I'm going to give this world a second chance" Sasuke said as he formed quick hand seals. "The jutsu I just cast is irreversible. In about three minutes you will be thrown into the past. I trust you. Change the future the way you see fit. And…Naruto…since your probably going to do something to keep me from going to Orochimaru, thus changing the me I am now into some one else-" Quickly Sasuke grabbed the back of the blondes head, wrapping his fingers in the golden locks as his lips gently crushed into Naruto's. It was a lingering, remorseful kiss, full of regret and wishes for things that would never come.
"I love you Naruto" Sasuke said as he laid one last kiss on the crying mans lips, then he formed the final seal, and in a blinding flash of light…Naruto was gone. A single bloody tear escaped Sasuke's eye as he gazed at his hand, which was quickly disappearing, becoming transparent. The raven smiled a sorrowful smile before he spoke his last words as Sasuke the betrayer.
"I knew you would do the right thing…My love." Then, he disappeared into the rising sun.
Naruto never felt any pain more intense than what he was currently suffering through. Ever nerve of his body seemed to be filled with liquid metal one minute, then frozen solid the next. His only thought was to make the pain stop, to put him out of this agonizing torture.
Hours, and hours seemed to pass by before Naruto's pain finally faded enough for him to slip into a restless sleep. His eyes slid closed, Letting numbness take over his body.
An alarm clock woke Naruto from the painful haze of sleep. Out of habit, Naruto's hand snapped out and shut off the annoying trill of the universally hated device. Not a good idea. The second his arm moved piercing pain shot all over his aching body. The pain though, cleared his foggy mind and brought all of the memories from the past day to the front of his mind.
Ignoring his protesting muscles Naruto sat up and took a look at his surroundings. A small, messy apartment, empty ramen bowls lying in heaps, Kunai placed in rather precarious positions, and a rather inappropriate calendar…
Nothing but the calendar seemed out of place. It made no sense for a man who had accepted his less than straight sexuality years ago to have a calendar of a women clad in strips of cloth that could barely be passed off as bikinis…unless…
Like a javelin Naruto shot toward the closest mirror, stumbling a few times because of awkwardly short limbs. Though he was partially expecting to see what he saw, it was still surprising for the twenty-two year old to see himself as twelve again. Naruto lifted his hand and stared at the slightly pudgy appendage. The baby fat still hadn't been burned.
"uggg! Are you kidding me! I spent hours toning my figure to perfection! I almost had an eight pack!" Lifting his shirt Naruto stared morosely at his pitiful one-pack. "We have some work to do".
Taking a deep breath Naruto contemplated his position. Whatever Sasuke had done had obviously worked. He had a chance! A chance to change everything! And Sasuke…he would do something for Sasuke.
Years ago Naruto had realized that wearing a neon orange jumpsuit was pretty much like having a blinking sign attached to your head that spelled 'Stab Me!'. Despite that though, Naruto had always loved the overall originality of it, and was quite upset when situations out of his control had forced him to discard his orange for something slightly more uniform. It was to his great joy then that he found it hanging nostalgically in his closet, like an old friend back from a long visit. Sighing happily he grabbed the outfit and slipped in, reveling in the familiar feeling of its soft fabric sliding across his slightly calloused skin.
Quickly he searched the apartment for his headband. It wasn't there. Naruto re-scanned, looking into drawers, under his bedside, in the bathroom, and even in the fridge (where he had accidentally placed it once after a rather long day of training). His efforts were futile. Naruto groaned and flopped down onto his bed. Not even a day in his past and already something had been changed. Never before had he not been able to find his headband.
Naruto turned his head to check the time, but his vision was blocked by a pair of goggles. Goggles…gog-he had lost those goggles shortly after he received his headband! That meant-! His eyes swiveled to the calendar, ignoring the busty redhead and looking straight at the date. The date that was circled five times in red ink. The date that he had giant red arrows pointing toward. The date of his Genin exams.
"Oh shit…"
If he remembered correctly the exams started at 9:00. Naruto hadn't expected to start changing the timeline yet! Last time he did this he arrived at the academy at 8:30, and it was already 8:50. Naruto quickly grabbed the goggles and clumsily sprinted out of his apartment uttering words no twelve your old should know, much less say.
In his normal body it would have taken about two minutes to get to the Academy, but as he was at the present it should have taken him nine side-stitching minutes. Given the amount of time he had been allotted that should have been sufficient…unfortunately for him, getting used to a body about half the size of your normal one makes you prone to accidents, not to mention the shocks of pain that still littered his body from the…intense ordeal he had experienced the night before. After walking into two people, stepping on one cat, and tripping over uncountable shadows he arrived at the academy with many more bruises that he left with. He was five minutes late.
Naruto threw open the door to his younger selves nightmare and staggered into the classroom panting heavily. He bent over, bracing his hands on his knees in a rather anti-productive attempt to catch his breath. When he looked up he was met with Iruka's furious gaze. Naruto was unprepared for the emotion that came with seeing his former teachers face. He was alive. Looking around the afore mentioned teacher Naruto peeked at the other inhabitants of the classroom. Everyone was alive. Tears of happiness and relief nearly reached his eyes.
"So Naruto….care to explain why you were late?" Naruto's attention was drawn back to the brunette teacher. crap. Naruto scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture he had lost long ago. It was expected though, and every miniscule detail could be devastating to the future…then again. Wasn't changing the future what he was trying to do?
"Sorry Iruka-sensei," he replied, looking properly abashed. "I-I overslept" he said quickly improvising.
Iruka raised his eyebrow in a silent question, then pointed to Naruto's currently unoccupied desk.
"Sit" Naruto sat.
In front of him lay a single sheet of paper, his written test. Naruto vaguely remembered the test. Or more like he remembered how little of the test he knew the answers to. Dead last was what he was aiming for, in order to be placed with Sakura and Sasuke. That he shouldn't change. So all he had to do for this test was put some halfhearted answers about something semi-related. He almost chuckled. Never before had he tried to fail on purpose.
Okay, number one: Who were the four Hokages and what were they best known for? Naruto's eyes twinkled as he answered as he had the first time around.
'It doesn't matter! I will be better than all of them!'
Good, number two: What are the pointy objects you propel through the air that have one blade and are often used for both throwing and close combat? …Was this serious? He had missed this the first time? He had to do as he did last time. As much as it pained him to do so Naruto wrote:
Shruiken
Number three: How was the Kyuubi defeated? Okay. The real version or the Academy version. Naruto briefly entertained the idea of writing the truth and seeing all the adults have panic attacks, but no.
He wrote a watered down version of what the Academy taught him, then breezed through the rest of his questions, occasionally inserting the correct answer. Twenty minutes after he finished Iruka collected all of the tests.
"Out to the Training field! We will be assessing your combat abilities!"
Then Naruto smiled a wide, foxy grin that spread across his face in an almost eerie way. The written exam coupled with the bare minimum number of clones, not to mention his dismal grades would ensure his passing as dead last.. The Kyuubi container could afford a little fun. Though Naruto's hand eye coordination was slightly off, he still could be classified as a high level Chunin, and he was going to use that to his advantage to show everyone that he could be taken seriously. Naruto would show all of those teachers who had taught him the incorrect fighting poses what he could amount to with a little help from one Might Gai.
The training ground in back of the academy was remarkably small and simple. No traps, fenced in, and teachers watching at every exit. All in all, a far cry from all the other training grounds in Konoha. Naruto found himself wishing that there would be at least one rabid bear pit like there had been in the Jounin exams.
The beginning of the first battle drew his attention back from his own musings. Two nameless ninja candidates with no real purpose other than to fill in some part of the plot were fighting, and rather pathetically at that. One finally was beaten (they actually tripped over their own shoelace and got knocked out from hitting their head against the others kneecap which proceeded to shatter). Battle worn, the victor proceeded to line which Sasuke already stood in, the winners line. He then fainted from the pain in his leg and was rushed to the nearest medic.
Snorting mentally Naruto began walking the ring where his name was called. His opponent (yet another nameless ninja candidate) settled into a very by-the-book stance. He smirked at Naruto, obviously thinking he had been given a lucky break in having him as his first opponent. Naruto grinned back. The others grin faded slightly at Naruto's obvious confidence.
A whistle blew and the other boy raced in, ready to win in one blow…but Naruto wasn't where he was before. The boys head whipped around in search of the blonde eyesore. He caught a flash of orange behind him. He swung around and kicked…thin air. More cautious than before the boy swept his eyes around him before zeroing in on the blonde standing before him…leisurely, inspecting his nails with undivided attention. Rage consumed him and he flew forward, fist curled, only to have it caught in Naruto's palm. Naruto smiled, then head butted the boy. There was a sickening crunch, then the boy dropped like a tranquilized gorilla.
Smiling happily Naruto took his place behind his old friend Chouji. Chouji didn't know of the future friendship, but that didn't stop Naruto from striking up a good old conversation. Slightly apprehensive at first Chouji conversed until his next fight, this one with Hinata. Even without the use of her bloodline limit she won easily and Chouji left to talk with Shikamaru (who had forfeited his first match).
Naruto fought five more times before he was matched up with Sasuke in the finals. This was the fight he was looking forward to. Despite his feelings for the future Sasuke, the Sasuke in front of him needed to be knocked down a level, and Naruto reveled in the chance to be the one to do it. Sadistic? Yes. And proud of it.
The teachers called for their attention, "The winner of this match will also fight Mizuki sensei, in order to further asses their skills." Iruka said. Naruto was mildly surprised, that hadn't happened before. He cast a glance at Sasuke. He was smirking, already imagining the glory of beating Mizuki.
The shriek of a whistle and the battle began. This time neither opponent moved first. Both stood in their respective stances waiting for the other to move. It was a test of patience.
A commonly known fact is that adults have much better patience than any child could hope for. Naruto never played by any rules though, did he? With a growl of frustration he charged forward, sweeping Sasuke's feet out from under him. Far too dignified too fall on his butt though Sasuke preformed a mid air roll that produced sighs of appreciation from the female audience (and some male). Landing on his feet Sasuke gave Naruto a smirk before he flashed a few hand signs and put his hand to his mouth in the tell tale signal that he was about to blow a giant fireball. Naruto returned the smirk. This was the moment he had been waiting for the whole combat test. Extremely quickly Naruto ran to Sasuke just as the first flicker of flames showed in-between the ravens maws. Using just a slight amount of his wind element chakra Naruto placed his hand over Sasuke's mouth and pushed on the flame. Cries of shock reached Naruto's ears. Catching Sasuke's eyes Naruto mouthed 'sucker'. The flames had only one place to escape. Removing his hand to protect it from scorching the blonde watched in amusement as flames erupted from the Uchiha's delicate nose, no doubt singing the nose hairs in the process. Yowling in pain Sasuke grabbed his nose, eyes watering, and glared at Naruto.
Eyes twinkling in a decidedly non-teary way Naruto gave his opponent a nice guy pose that Kakashi would have shuddered at, but Gai would have approved completely. Teeth twinkling blindingly Naruto delivered his signature phrase.
"Believe it!" he shouted.
Angered at the blatant disrespect of the third (Second according to his knowledge) to last Uchiha, Sasuke began to throw fast and hard punches, followed by kicks, and in some cases teeth. All the while Naruto dodged, smiling…until the worlds most unpredictable ninja made a remarkably familiar mistake and tripped, having overextend his arms in a dodge. Naruto cursed his short limbs as he accepted a blow to the stomach. Flipping away Naruto decided to end the game between himself and Sasuke. As the raven rushed at him Naruto caught the oncoming arm and used the momentum Sasuke had already built up to throw him over his hip. Naruto then hit the pressure point at the back of his neck and it was over.
Depositing the black haired boy in a rather undignified lump on the ground Naruto turned to Iruka-Sensei. "If you don't lift your jaw off the ground soon someone might accidentally throw a kunai into it." he remarked wickedly. With a startled look Iruka closed his mouth and picked up the clipboard that he had dropped to the ground in shock of Naruto's victory. Scribbling furious notes he turned to Mizuki and gestured for him to get into the ring with Naruto.
Naruto's brain was working overtime. What was he going to do? The first real change of the future was about to occur. For the better or worse though? Resigned to his decision Naruto turned to the traitor in front of him. There was an evil gleam in his eyes. Naruto shuddered.
The whistle blew a final time and Mizuki disappeared, only to reappear behind the blonde. Pretending to fall in shock Naruto latched onto Mizuki's vest, specifically in one pocket. By a stroke of luck it contained the very thing he was looking for. A small slip of paper. He rolled away, paper in hand.
"What's this Mizuki-Sensei?" He asked with a teasing voice. "A love letter?" Mizuki's eyes bulged in terror as Naruto began to read the letter out loud.
"Bring the object we discussed to the border of Konoha tonight and you will be rewarded well…wow Mizuki, a traitor?" In one quick move Naruto pounced onto the shell shocked almost missing nin. Naruto proceeded to beat him within an inch of his life, not so different from the original timeline. Once he was thoroughly satisfied with the damage dealt Naruto stood up and walked over to Iruka, who didn't even bother to lift his jaw from the floor this time. "do I get extra credit for catching a criminal?"
After Mizuki was apprehended and the overall chaos ended the third segment of the exam began. A flustered Iruka stood in front of the class, attempting to regain his normal in-control persona.
"The next, and final test will be to make at least one successful bunshin. Please line up according to your class rank." He said. Naruto happily took his place at the end of the line. Sasuke walked into the next room first, and walked out with a shiny new headband. Next was Sakura, followed by Shikamaru, and so the lines population dwindled until it was Naruto's turn to enter.
The classroom was just as he remembered (Minus Mizuki). Iruka sat in the desk before him. Naruto raised his hands, ready to form the necessary hand seals for the bunshin but Iruka stopped with a quick signal. Naruto's hands dropped to his sides as he gave his scarred teacher a questioning look.
"Yes, Iruka-Sensei" He asked.
"What was that earlier Naruto? Where did you learn all of that Taijutsu, and how did you know that Mizuki was going to betray us?"
Naruto settled into his well-worn dunderhead façade. "Know? How could I have known about Mizuki? I just have that luck! You know?" Naruto scratched the back of head and grinned at Iruka.
Iruka bought the lie easily. "How did you learn all that Taijutsu though, you avoided the question."
During the long wait in line Naruto had considered how he would answer this question. He decided on the easiest choice. "While I was walking back to my apartment after school a while ago I saw this creepy dude run past me. He was wearing a green spandex suit and orange leg warmers…and, well, I don't know if you'll believe me on this or not, but he was running on his hands! I followed him, which was hard to do sensei! He ran faster on his hands than I could on my feet! Anyway, I followed him to this one training ground. He met with…what I suspect is either his little brother or his spawn. They began to fight. The longer I watched them the more I realized that their stances were really different from the ones I was taught! I decided to copy them, so I watched them for a few weeks! And that's how I got so awesome at Taijutsu." Naruto completed his monologue lie with a happy smile.
Iruka's face was worth the lie though. The very idea of one of his students being corrupted by the infamous Might Gai and his mini-me was enough to terrify any sane person…and any ninja. Iruka wouldn't question the blonde any more.
"Continue with the jutsu." the teacher said as he leaned back into his chair. In all honesty he was worried for Naruto. With his abysmal written test score Naruto would have to pass this exam in order to pass. The Kyuubi container would still be dead last, but he would be out of Iruka's classroom, and that was all that mattered. With his own sanity as the stakes Naruto watched as Naruto pulled on his chakra. Beads of sweat formed on Iruka's face as he watched the boy in terror. All for naught.
"Bunshin no jutsu!" One orange ninja copy popped into existence. Iruka smiled at Naruto warmly, proud that his little brother figure would finally be able to pass the class and continue on his road to his dream.
"Well done Naruto, you passed." Happily the scarred teacher handed the blonde boy his own ninja headband.
Naruto bounded out of the classroom, happiness oozing from every pore in his body. He had passed, and hadn't even had to break any laws to do it! He returned home and slept easily.
*Next day*
Everybody was sitting in their respective seats before class. The kiss scene had been carefully avoided by Naruto simply choosing a seat one away from Sasuke, leaving room for the pink haired fangirl. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He would have felt rather pedophilic for having kissed a twelve year old. Naruto should have realized that certain events could not be evaded, and fate had a wicked sense of humor.
Iruka entered the classroom and demanded the attention of its students. "Congratulations! You are now Genin. Your careers as ninja of Konoha have begun! Now, I would like to announce the highest ranking graduates. Haruno Sakura and Sasuke Uchiha! Please come to the front of the class."
Ecstatic at her name having been used in the same sentence as Sasuke's, Sakura jumped from her seat. Sasuke, having no reason to be quite as excited, stood slowly. Naruto, who, in all honesty had not been paying the slightest bit of attention and was occupied in balancing his chair on one leg out of sheer boredom was shocked when Sakura stampeded past him in a flurry of pink and red. His chair spun furiously, catching the raven's foot in one of its legs, sending both boys crashing to the floor.
'He tastes almost as good as he did before…crap' blue eyes met grey in shocked silence. Sasuke, in a last chance to preserve his cool image pushed Naruto off of him and with an almost inaudible 'dobe' Sasuke joined Sakura at the front of the class. Eyes still widened from shock Naruto sat back down. He didn't feel as dirty as he probably should have. Naruto had taken the precaution of avoiding Sasuke this morning the kiss had still happened. Either he was destined to kiss Sasuke on this fated day (Neji's influence here), or some events were simply needed to happen in both timelines.
It wasn't long before his soon to be team-mates were sitting down again. Sakura made sure to hit his head on her way back to her seat. Naruto found himself missing the future Sakura deeply. Her punches hurt so much more, she was strong, brave, and not the pinkette sitting to his left.
The teams were announced, met with many cheers, and groans as well. Then the senseis were introduced and the class began to thin out, and soon the only three people left were the members of team seven. Knowing that Kakashi would appear exactly two hours after the specified time Naruto settled down for a good nap. Lo and behold, when exactly two hours had passed Kakashi appeared in the door frame.
Sasuke sat at one of the furthest desks, Sakura next to him, a puppy like look in her eyes while Naruto was busy wiping his face off after having recently raised his head from a puddle of drool. "My first impression of you guys is…I hate you." Some things would never change. "follow me." With that Kakashi left his students to chase after him.
Hello guys, anyone watching this story will have realized that I just combined the first four chapters into one longer one. Also, I am aware that having deleted those chapters means that the reviews for them will be gone…I will work on keeping the characters in character. A big thanks to MadaMag for being an awesome person and pointing out the mistakes in my story.
Much love,
Isabella (Tearsforitachi)